myStrength

For us, it’s personal

myStrength arose from a deep passion to help those challenged with behavioral health disorders. We’ve seen people close to us suffer with depression, anxiety, or overuse of drugs and alcohol and experienced first-hand the disabling impact.

We have witnessed our loved ones’ struggles to overcome the cost, inaccessibility, and stigma of care and treatment.

Knowing that there must be a way to overcome these obstacles, we set out to help those we love…and the more than 50 million others who are working through behavioral health disorders. The vision for myStrength, The health club for your mind™, was born as we realized that the Internet and mobile applications provide a perfect way to help those in need. Done right, digital resources that complement other forms of care, such as medication and working with a behavioral health professional, could give users support that is affordable, accessible, and devoid of the negative image that behavioral healthcare sometimes carries.

To make our vision real, we leveraged our extensive digital consumer experience, tapped into our online learning expertise, and surrounded ourselves with brilliant partners and advisors. Together, we created myStrength to give people the resources they need to help create real and lasting change. Change that makes their lives, and the lives of the people around them, better.

Leadership Team

Scott R. Cousino

Scott R. Cousino

CEO & Co-Founder

Scott has successfully built and led high-growth organizations, most recently a $110 million web-based learning platform. Prior to myStrength, Scott was an Internet executive at Alta Colleges, a higher education services company offering associate and bachelor degree programs to more than 18,000 students. As President of the 600-employee online college, he and his team were responsible for the initial launch and rapid growth of Alta’s fully accredited e-learning platform. Scott also served as Senior Vice President for Fidelity Investments, with oversight for the Company’s emerging growth offshore/international mutual fund division. Scott has an MBA from the University of Colorado and a BBA with distinction from the University of Michigan.

Matt Sopcich

Matt Sopcich

President & Co-Founder

Matt has over 20 years experience in leadership roles in Internet services, mobile and digital media. Previous to co-founding myStrength, Matt served as the Executive Director of eCommerce at Qwest Communications. In that role, Matt led an organization of 200 employees focused on launching and scaling the business-to-consumer Internet services division. He and his team surpassed $100 million of revenue within two years of launch. Before Qwest, Matt served as Chief Marketing Officer for Alta Colleges, overseeing an $80 million Internet marketing and product development budget. Matt has a Masters of Technology Management degree from the University of Denver and a B.S. with distinction in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University.

Abigail Hirsch, PhD

Abigail Hirsch, PhD

Chief Clinical Officer

Abigail specializes in the integration of clinical psychology, data analytics and educational design. Recent projects have focused on bringing these interests to creating online behavioral health products. Prior to joining the myStrength team, Abigail was the principal investigator on a $2.5 million federal Department of Health and Human Services grant to build an innovative and effective online marriage education product called “Power of Two Online.” Abigail holds a B.A. in Quantitative Studies of Social Policy from Harvard University, an M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts.

Rebecca Newman

Rebecca Newman

Vice President of Operations and Strategic Alliances

Rebecca has over 20 years of operational leadership experience including the development and delivery of IT systems and strategic alliance programs across multiple industries. Prior to joining myStrength, Rebecca served as Vice President within the for-profit distance education industry. She was responsible for creating comprehensive customer acquisition strategies including building marketing channel management programs with over 20 strategic partners, resulting in annual revenues exceeding $100 million. She drove strategic initiatives for Qwest Communications including the development and delivery of customer retention systems, business intelligence and reporting systems, and the system migration of over one million customers in support of a corporate merger. Rebecca holds a Master’s degree from the University of Denver and a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY College at Fredonia.

Ed Jones, PhD

Ed Jones, PhD

Vice President of Strategic Planning

Ed is a clinical psychologist who has served in a variety of direct service and executive management roles related to behavioral health care and behaviorally-focused wellness programs. He previously served as president of the commercial division for ValueOptions, offering 16 million members access to high quality employee assistance services, work-life balance programs, health and wellness products, and behavioral health treatment for all mental health and chemical dependency diagnoses. Prior to this role he served as the chief clinical officer for PacifiCare Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral healthcare organization with 6 million members nationwide. Ed earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and his doctorate from Northwestern University, leading to an early career in private practice.

Suzanne Falaschetti

Suzanne Falaschetti

Vice President of Account Services

Suzanne has more than 20 years experience in health and wellness. Prior to myStrength, Suzanne was the Director of Wellness Product Development and Design for LifeSynch/Humana, where she drove the development of innovative wellness products. She has also served as Wellness Program Design Coordinator with Aetna, where she designed and implemented a comprehensive wellness and behavior change program for over 17 million covered members. She has a Master’s degree in Exercise Science and Cardiac Rehabilitation from Northeastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Sports Science from Indiana University.

Chuck Tepper

Chuck Tepper

Vice President of Public Partnerships

Chuck is a senior health care executive with over 35 years of healthcare experience. Prior to joining myStrength, Chuck played a key role in the growth of the online learning behavioral health company, Relias Learning (formerly Essential Learning) as its Senior Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Chuck was responsible for securing over 300 new provider partnerships, specifically community behavioral health organizations, substance use treatment centers and integrated health systems.

Joslin Alexander

Joslin Alexander

Vice President of Product Management and Development

Joslin has more than 10 years of experience building and managing consumer-facing web and mobile products. Prior to myStrength, Joslin was the Director of Product Management at Photobucket and joined the company as the third full time employee. While there, she helped scale the product and technology to over 60 million users over two years before the company was acquired by Fox Interactive Media. Most recently, Joslin ran the product team for Peterson’s Interactive where she built tools to help prospective students get into college. Joslin has experience leading both product and engineering teams and earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Clinical Board

  • Tom Barrett, PhD

    Currently a Clinical Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, Tom is a former Senior Medical Officer for the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department in the World Health Organization and the Mental Health Director for the State of Colorado. Tom has an MA and PhD from West Virginia University.

  • CJ Bathgate, PhD

    CJ is a researcher and clinician specializing in the facilitation of health and behavior changes using in-person and technology-based interventions. Her expertise within these areas surround sleep, chronic health conditions, stress management, mood disorders, and relationship functioning. Dr. Bathgate holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, an Ed.M. and M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver.

  • Charles G. Curie

    Charles is the principal and founder of THE CURIE GROUP, LLC, a management and consulting firm working with leaders in the healthcare field, particularly mental health (MH) and substance use (SU). Curie was nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to head SAMHSA from 2001 to 2006. Curie holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and is certified by the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW).

  • Neil Dickman, PhD

    Neil has been a CEO, president and chief clinical officer with over thirty years of professional experience in diverse health care settings. Previous positions include: Co-Founder and CEO of Pathmakers, a behavioral health practice management company; Group Vice President and Vice President of Strategic Clinical Initiatives at United Behavioral Health and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Alere Medical, a disease state management company. Dr. Dickman received a B.A. in psychology and a Masters of Social Work at the University of Michigan. He received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Professional School of Psychology.

  • Ronald Geraty, MD

    Dr. Ronald Geraty is an entrepreneur with expertise in the technology-enabled healthcare services industry, and is known for founding, developing, and transforming multiple healthcare companies. Dr. Geraty began his career as a physician with a specialty in child and adolescent psychiatry in private practice and academia (Harvard Medical School). Subsequently, Dr. Geraty served in roles including positions of CEO, Board Member, and Executive Chairman, and has also led companies in psychiatry (Monarch Health); radiology (American Imaging Management); cardiology and other chronic diseases (Alere Medical); diabetes (Sanare); dermatology (DermOne); and most recently, population health management (AxisPoint Health).

  • Tony Karrer, PhD

    Tony has 18 years of experience leading software development teams for high-growth online consumer companies, including serving as the initial CTO for eHarmony. He has a wide-ranging technical background and is considered one of the top technologists in training and performance support development. Tony was valedictorian at Loyola Marymount University, where he earned his BS in Computer Science, and attended the University of Southern California as a Tau Beta Pi fellow, one of the top 30 engineers in the nation, and received an MS and PhD in Computer Science.

  • Stephen W. Mayberg, PhD

    A nationally recognized expert on public mental health systems, Steve served as Director of the California Department of Mental Health for 18 years. During that time, he worked to advocate and implement major mental health system reform based on programmatic research and program outcomes and accountability. In 2002, Steve was appointed to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Throughout his career, he has continued to provide clinical services. Steve received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota.

  • Suzanne Mitchell, MD, MS

    Suzanne Mitchell is an expert in clinical delivery system solutions to improve chronic disease management and care transitions for patients and family caregivers navigating the healthcare system. She is a practicing, board certified palliative care and family physician, health services researcher, and medical educator with expertise in primary care redesign, care transition and palliative care for dual eligible, chronic care and other complex patient populations. Suzanne earned her MD from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University and completed her residency in family medicine in Los Angeles CA. She received her master’s degree in clinical research from the University of California Los Angeles.

  • Glenn Most, Psy.D

    Director of Behavioral Health Services at Exempla West Pines Behavioral Health Hospital, Glenn has been a prominent advocate for mental well-being, recently serving on the Mental Health America/Denver Metro Crisis Services Advisory Committee. Glenn has his MA in Psychology from New York University and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver.

  • Jill Pechacek, MD

    Co-founder of Aspen Family Care Center and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Jill was featured in 5280 magazine in 2006 and received the “Top Doc” Award for family physicians in Denver. Jill received her medical degree from the University of Iowa.